All Is Fair
by sonho-amor
Summary: Damon and Elena have been friends since childhood, and Damon has always worked hard to keep his feelings for Elena hidden. But when things start to get serious between her and her latest boyfriend Damon decides it's time to take his chances and fight for the girl he loves. AU/AH *on hiatus*
1. Prolog

**AN: Hey everyone! So this is my first published work, and I'm still really nervous about posting it but I really like it and I hope you do too:) Let me know what you think! Thank you! and enjoy! (please ignore any minor mistakes)**

* * *

9 Years ago…..

Elena Gilbert sat at the breakfast bar in the kitchen of her Virginia home; taking spoon full's of Fruit-loops while absent mindedly humming a random tune she had heard on the radio sometime last week.

"Lena keep still" Her mother gently reminded her, while skillfully braiding her daughters brunette locks.

"Sorry mom." The eight year old said in between bites of the sugary cereal.

"And don't talk with food in your mouth full." She chided her daughter, tying the end of the finished braid in a red ribbon, to match the checkered dress she had picked out for the first day of school, picture day.

Finishing her cereal, Elena rose the bowl, of what was now only milk to her lips and slurped it noisily until it was all gone. When she lowered the bowl she smiled sheepishly at her mother who had her arms crossed over her chest and a firm frown set on her lips.

"Elena Marie Gilbert" She spoke sternly, "That is _not_ how a lady finishes her cereal." The elder female scolded.

With a shy smile Elena slid off her stool, and muttered a 'sorry' as she passed her mom, setting the now empty bowl of cereal in the sink. Her mother patted her daughter's shoulder gently, seeming to have dropped her previous annoyance, "It's okay Lena, just go upstairs, find your shoes, brush your teeth and meet me down here so I can take pictures of your brother and you before school starts." She smiled encouragingly.

Elena nodded and grinned a toothy smile "Kay mom!" she chirped and turned to run up the stairs only to plow right into her father, who had been helping Jeremy get dressed for his first day of kindergarten.

Elena let out a muffled 'oof' before stumbling back slightly after having collided with her father.

"Whoa! Easy there E-bear, where's the fire?" He chuckled softly at his own joke.

"Daaad, I'm a big girl now, you can't keep calling me baby names" she whined, crossing her arms over her chest and jutting her lip out in a stubborn pout.

Smiling he shook his head, "You get that from your mother you know, 'the pout'" he stage whispered, winking at his wife.

Elena giggled a little and turned to see her mom looking completely shocked, "Gray! She does not!" she defended herself, pulling the same look Elena had just moments ago.

Grayson just threw his head back and laughed full heartily, "Sure Honey, whatever you say." He mocked surrendered; throwing is hands up for effect.

Her mother just rolled her eyes, walking over to join the two of them, "You know sometimes I wonder why I stay with you." She teased the man who along with her two kids were her whole world.

"You know sometimes I do too" He admitted light-heartedly, leaning down to pick up his young daughter, causing Elena to yelp in surprise before he started tickling her and she was suppressing giggles, "But then I see this little ray of sunshine and I remember that must be why." He joked cracking a smile.

A persistent tugging on his leg caused Grayson to turn around, only to see Jeremy standing there, "I'm ready for school!" the youngest Gilbert cheered, beaming up at him, his rosy cheeks were in full swing, and the Gilbert trade-mark chocolate brown eyes looked up at him adoringly.

"There's my boy!" Grayson smiled, putting Elena down, as she scurried up stairs to fetch her dress shoes.

"Oh, Jeremy you look so handsome," Miranda gushed. Taking in her sons appearance, his dark brown hair was combed neatly the side and had a straight part down the middle. He wore a red sweater like long sleeve polo and khaki pants. He looked adorable.

"Thanks mom!" Her son smiled proudly. "When do I go to kindergarten?" He asked excitedly, practically bouncing instead of walking as he found his power ranger backpack and lunch box.

"As soon as Lena comes down stairs" she replied patiently, running a hand lightly over his hair, trying to calm him down. No such luck.

"HURRY UP LENA!" Jeremy hollered up the stairs where she had disappeared a couple minutes ago.

Elena reappeared a couple seconds later at the top of the stairway, and started to walk down, "Alright, alright I'm coming! Shesh!" She exclaimed, hopping off the last step and walking over to grab her blue and green spotted backpack, lunch box set.

"Ready, Jer?" Elena asked her younger brother, who nodded rapidly and ran to her side as she turned to leave.

"Okay wait, one picture please?" Their mom begged, both Gilbert kids let out a sigh and posed for the 'must have' picture their mom wanted.

"Cheeseeee." They said in unison. After the camera flashed they were almost out the door, when their parents stopped them, again.

"Hold it you two." Their father spoke

"Yeah you're not going anywhere just yet." Their mother called from around the corner.

* * *

After about 10 minutes of bus safety training Elena and Jeremy were racing out the door to their bus-stop.

Elena was sitting next to Jeremy, just like her parents had told her to do pretty much all summer and another fifty this morning. She was starting to regret listening to them though, because Jeremy seemed to be playing 120 questions today and Elena had about had it with her younger brother. The bus stopped in front of her best friend, Caroline Forbs' pick up stop….The ride wasn't long after this, and Jeremy would be fine, right? After convincing herself of this she slowly stood up and started making her way to Caroline.

"Hey Care!" Elena greeted her friend with a huge smile and plopped down next to her.

"Hey Leana!" The petite blond squealed, enveloping Elena in a tight hug.

The bus had just started to move again when the two girls heard a loud "LENA!"

Everyone on board turned to look at her brother, who looked like he was about to cry. Her eyes drifted over to a boy, slightly taller than herself, He had a charcoal collared shirt on, neatly combed dark ebony hair, large blue eyes, and the black pants he was wearing matched his shoes.

He was smirking meanly at her brother, taunting him by holding his Spider Man action figure above him. Elena knew the blue eyed boy, she sat by him one day during coloring time last year and he stole or broke almost her whole new box of 64 crayons, and he didn't even say sorry! This boy was just a bully; she knew this because that's what her mom had said about Damon Salvatore the day she brought home her broken crayons.

Abruptly standing up Elena glared towards the boy causing her brother to start crying, desperately grabbing for his toy.

"I'll be right back Care" She told her friend, who was now distracted by the hem of her green dress.

Elena marched right up to Damon, Ignoring the bus driver yelling at her to take a seat. Damon either hadn't heard her coming, or didn't care because he never looked behind him when she approached.

"Hey!" Elena yelled, shoving the dark haired boy a little to get his attention. Damon turned slowly; he looked really upset and gave Elena one of the meanest stares she had ever received.

"Hey what?" Damon replied harshly, still holding the Spider Man out of Jeremy's reach.

"Hey" Elena mimicked, "that's my brothers" she said matter-of-factly, looking at the action figure dangling from Damon's fingers, "so give it back."

He pretended to think for a second before smiling cruelly again, "hmm, nope not gonna ha-"

Suddenly the bus hit a bump and the unexpected movement caused Damon to drop the toy and stumble backwards, tripping over Elena in the process.

"Ow!" Elena squeaked, cradling her elbow which had been scraped when Damon fell on her, slowly Damon picked himself up, once he was on his feet he grabbed a kid who looked about Jeremy age by the arm, how had she not noticed him before? "Come on Stef" Damon grumbled, leading the younger boy to an empty seat.

Elena dusted herself off and went back to sit with Jeremy, who was now happily playing with Spider Man. Her elbow still really hurt as she continued to rub the spot that took the most impact.

* * *

Thankfully it only took about five minutes for the bus to pull up to Mystic Falls Elementary; Elena gathered her things quickly, wanting to get off the bus. However it seemed that Damon wasn't finished with them yet, as he stepped in front of the only exit they had from their seats "What do you want?" she nearly spat locking eyes with him, he shifted awkwardly on the balls of his feet when she noticed the boy who was trucked off by Damon earlier. He had slightly spiked, sandy blonde hair, and round green eyes, his outfit consisted of a deep green sweater vest covered a white dress shirt, with dark dress pants and shoes to complete his picture day look. She decided they must be family or friends…but then who would want to be friends with Damon?

"Uhmm are you going to move or just stand there all day?" Elena asked annoyed.

"Look, I just wanted to tell your brother and you sorry…. I can be sorta mean…sometimes..I guess" He hastily apologized not quite looking at either of them but the green eyed boy…Stef, was it? Looked happy that Damon had said this.

"It's okay!" he chimed, and apparently so was Jeremy. "Look! Spidy is alright" he said proudly.

"That's awesome!" 'Stef' complemented, causing Jeremy to grin widely.

"Thanks! I've got lots more at home; you wanna come over sometime and see 'em? Oh! And I'm Jeremy" he introduced himself.

"Yeah! That sounds awesome! I'm Stefan!" Both boys smiled at each other before starting out of the bus talking about superheroes.

"So, that Stefan kid….Is he your brother?" Elena asked, not really sure why she was trying to talk to the big jerk in the first place.

"Yeah, unfortunately" Damon shrugged, smiling a little at his satirized comment directed towards his brother.

Elena smiled in return, "Yeah, they can be pretty annoying sometimes" Elena stated rolling her eyes at all the times Jeremy has irked her.

"True, they can be but Stefan isn't just annoying, he's like every big siblings worst nightmare!" Damon exaggerated, using his arms for effect.

"Well I'll trade you Jeremy for Stefan, I bet you wouldn't last a week with Jeremy" She challenged him, heading towards the bus exit with the rest of the stragglers.

Damon scoffed, "Well you wouldn't last a day with Stefan." He argued back

* * *

Elena and Damon talked a lot more that day, as it turned out they were in the same homeroom and lunch together! On the bus ride home they sat together, while Jeremy and Stefan sat in the row in front of them. Caroline was shooting daggers at Elena, but she didn't really care, she was too busy listening to Damon tell her about the time his family went to Sea World and how a dolphin made Stefan cry.

When the Bus pulled up to their stop Jeremy and Elena got up and started to head out, She turned waving to Damon "See ya tomorrow Damon" Elena called over the hum of other kids talking.

"See ya Elena!" He yelled back, smiling.

Damon couldn't wipe the stupid grin off his face, he leaned back in his seat, he sure hopped he would see Elena Gilbert again, that girl was funny, and nice and she always listened and didn't think his jokes were stupid and…she was kinda pretty….

* * *

Damon had started to sit with Elena, Caroline, and Bonnie at lunch, and soon all of Damon's friends: Tyler, Matt, and Alaric were sitting with them as well; they even started to let Jeremy and Stefan sit by them. It wasn't long before they all had become very good friends and remained close all through elementary school, sticking together during middle school, and things really weren't much different now in high school. However Elena and Damon had developed a tighter bond, when they were younger teachers would joke that the two were joined at the hip, since you rarely saw Elena without Damon nearby or vise versa.

That's just how it always was with them; they stuck by each other no matter what. When Damon's mom passed away a few months after his 11th birthday, Elena mourned with him. When her parents didn't survive the car crash freshman year, he stayed by her side until she couldn't cry anymore. They were each other's rock in hard times, best friends through thick and thin, no matter what life threw at them

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**AN: Well how was it?:D next chapter will be present day, in high school. Please please review if you have the time. I'll update as soon as possible but finals are coming up so it might not be right away but I already have some of the next chapter written. Thanks so much for reading,**

**~Syd**


	2. Chapter 1

**"It seems to me that the best relationships, the ones that last, are frequently the ones that are rooted in friendship. One day you look at the person and you see something more than you did the night before, like a switch has been flicked somewhere. And the person who was just a friend is... suddenly the only person you can ever imagine yourself with" -Gillian Anderson**

* * *

Sunlight filtered in through the windows of Elena's room, peacefully illuminating the furniture inside. With a tired groan she stretched out in her bed. Rolling to her side she forced open her eyes, checking the time 7:42am. School.

"Shit!" She cursed, throwing the covers off her body and ran to the bathroom.

'_Shit, shit, shit! Why didn't my alarm go off!' _

Grabbing her brush from the counter she quickly tore through the tangles.

"Elena?"

Looking over her shoulder she saw Jeremy standing in the doorway of the bathroom, pulling his favorite black sweatshirt on, over the white wife beater he'd been wearing

"What are you doing?! Why aren't you ready?"

"My alarm didn't go off!" She explained, shoving her toothbrush in her mouth and hastily started brushing her teeth.

"Well hurry up, Stefan and Damon will be here any minuet." The younger Gilbert warned concentrating on a stray piece of hair in the large mirror.

"Yeah, yeah I got that Jer just go downstairs and wait for them, I'll be ready in a bit." She instructed him, rushing out of the bathroom, and practically running to her own room. She_ hated_ being late.

"Alright, alright." Jeremy murmured, rolling his eyes while heading downstairs.

Elena searched her closet for something to wear about three times before finally settling on a simple teal to. She yanked it off its hanger and tossed it on her on her bed as she moved to her dresser, pulling open one of the middle drawers and fished out a pair of jeans, tossing them on the bed as well.

She quickly striped down, throwing her pajamas into the corner where her laundry basket was and changed into the clean clothes she had just laid out for herself. She quickly pulled her brown locks up into a ponytail in front of the mirror on top her ivory vanity dresser. Rubbing her eyes tiredly Elena started to rummage through her small makeup bag, in search of her mascara.

"If you're not ready in five minutes we're leaving you." A familiar voice came from behind her.

Rolling her eyes as she dug out the mascara she been looking for and started to apply it, "God you guys are so impatient!" She groaned dramatically, turning around to face Damon as usual his hair was slightly disheveled and he was dressed in his usual dark Tee, jeans, boots, and his favorite leather jacket. He was leaning against her door frame, and tapping his foot impatiently, but the stupid grin on his face made it clear that he was only doing so to annoy her.

"Come on Elena we don't want to be late to school!" He said with faux concern.

"Right because you're always on time to every class, wouldn't want to tarnish that perfect attendance record of yours." She said sarcastically bending down to retrieve her over the shoulder book bag.

It was no secret that Damon Salvatore wasn't known for his punctuality, he often skipped classes or school altogether. In fact you were more likely to find him around the grille on a Monday after noon, rather than in the halls of Mystic Falls High.

"Well, I'm not the one making us late now am I?" He teased, tilting his head slightly and raised a brow.

"Shut up" Elena mumbled, "My alarm didn't go off, and now I have to go to school looking like crap." She pouted slightly, and gave him an annoyed look.

Rolling his eyes Damon moved from his spot against the door frame and made his way to his best friend of almost ten years. "Elena, you look fine" he told her earnestly, giving her a small smile.

"Thanks, but you're sorta obliged to say that, being my best friend and all." She said, making a half attempt at a joke, as she straightened out her shirt.

Damon's brows scrunched together as he took in her appearance once again, could she really not see how beautiful she looked? The soft, long chestnut hair that was normally kept down was now pulled up into a high pony tail, exposing her thin neck and collarbone. The blue shirt she had on was in no way tight fitting but it still managed to perfectly emphasize her curves, and the way the dark denim material of her jeans fit was almost unfair…moving forward he took her face in his hands, making sure she looked him in the eyes.

"Elena. you. look. beautiful." he told her with conviction. "Got it?" he smiled, shaking her head slightly, before he let his hands fall to his sides.

"You know Damon, if you keep saying things like that people might start to see through your big bad ass façade" She quipped, but did a poor job in hiding her smile as she made a move to exit her room, only to be stopped by Damon who had stuck his arm out, blocking the door.

"Take that back" he warned.

"Hmm, what are you talking about" Elena smiled innocently at him

"That it's a façade" he frowned. "I'm the biggest bad ass in this town" he said seriously, giving his leather jacket a light tug for emphasis, causing Elena to chuckle.

"Sure, whatever you say tough guy" She smirked patting his arm and walking past him.

"Uhg, you're such a bitch!" He whined, following her down the stairs.

"Aww, did I bruise your ego?" she asked mockingly, jutting out her bottom lip.

"Nope, it's gonna take a lot more than that Gilbert." he replied smugly, as they reached the bottom of the stairway.

"Hu, if memory serves I remember some kid crying after some girl beat him in a race." She made a face as if she was trying to remember the event. "Doesn't that sound familiar Damon?" She asked, knowing he hated when she brought up embarrassing stories about his younger self.

"Nope! I have no idea what you're talking about" he shrugged airily.

"Oh really? So it wasn't you who started crying in fourth grade after Caroline beat you in a race around the play ground?" She said with a tone of repartee to her voice as she smiled fondly at the memory.

* * *

"_Alright, on three you guys have to race to that tree" a ten year old Tyler instructed, pointing to a tree across the school yard. "And race back, whoever gets back first is the winner. Got it" He asked Caroline and Damon who both nodded._

"_Okay..one…tw-" Before Tyler had a chance to finish the count-down Caroline had bolted, and taken off down the field._

"_HEY!" Damon yelled sprinting after the small blonde who was running with her arms in front of her giggling._

_Somehow Caroline had managed to keep her lead on Damon and arrived back to the group of friends right before he did. _

"_That's…not…fair" He panted trying to catch his breath, "You cheated!" He accused harshly._

"_So! You always cheat" Caroline shot back, sticking her tongue out at the red faced boy who was now clenching his hands in to fists._

_He shook his head; there was no way he would have lost if she hadn't taken the stupid head start! _

"_Fine!" Tyler barked, gesturing towards himself and the small group of boys he was standing with. "We want a rematch, and this time no cheating." He challenged, glaring at Caroline._

"_Alright, but you guys are still going to lose" Caroline said confidently,_

_As the group of friends started to walk towards the playground Elena noticed that Damon wasn't following, instead he was standing in the same spot he had been before everyone left, scrubbing his face with the sleeve of his jacket. _

"_Damon? What's the matter?" She asked, approaching him._

"_Nothing" he replied quickly, not looking at her_

_He was already embarrassed and upset that he lost, not that Caroline was any help, she only made it worse; but if Elena saw that he was crying over something so stupid he was pretty sure he'd die of embarrassment, especially since it was her. To be honest he didn't know why he'd gotten so upset about losing, he'd lost at things plenty of times, not that he would admit it though. _

'_Yeah, but this time you lost to a girl, and in front of Elena!' a stupid voice inside his head told him, Damon wasn't sure why but this year he had started caring about what Elena thought of him, and it was beginning to really annoy him._

"_You know its okay you didn't win" Elena said quietly, "Caroline cheated anyway, so it really wasn't fair" she said smiling, trying to lighten her friend's mood. _

"_Yeah, well she better watch her back 'cause I'm gonna get back at her for this" he promised, smirking at Elena, she always was able to cheer him up._

"_Come on lets go, they probably think we ditched them or something" He said looking for where their friends were._

"_Alright, and don't worry..I won't tell them you were crying" Elena nudged him playfully as they started walking in the same direction their friends had._

"_Hey!" Damon exclaimed, shoving her lightly, "I wasn't crying, I...I just got some dirt in my eye" he stammered, trying to defend himself._

"_Alright" Elena sing-songed, "If that's what you want to call it."_

"_Whatever, just keep that to yourself or else" Damon said with a straight face, wagging a finger at her._

"_Pinky swear." Elena promised, linking their pinkies._

* * *

"Okay! That was different and you know it!" He laughed at the memory as they entered the kitchen, where Jeremy and Stefan stood waiting.

"Oh please! You were so upset that you had lost to a girl!" Elena retorted, as they headed out the door.

"Oh, no Elena he just had some dust in his eye remember?" Stefan spoke up, joining in the banter, as Jeremy started to laugh.

"Okay, ha-ha you're all so funny, just be thankful I'm not making you three walk to school he said, holding the passenger door open for Elena as the two younger boys crawled into the back.

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**A/N: Sorry it took me a while to post this. finals week was insane this year:/ anyway I know its kinds short, but just consider it a two part chapter, if you will. Since I'll start right where I left off with this one:) **

**As always, thanks so much for reading and don't for get to review if you have the time!**

**~Syd**


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: YAY! An update!:D ..So first of all I'm reallyyyyy sorry about the delay on this, but I was lacking my muse for a bit and wasn't happy with anything I wrote, then I finally got going and finished the chapter when my USB (where I save my chapters) suddenly erased everything, and I couldn't retrieve anything :( Anyway here is chapter three, thank you SO much for reviewing and reading my story, it means a lot! Also sorry if I have made any mistakes, but I really wanted to get this out!**

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Once they arrived to the school and had found a parking place Elena partially jumped out of the car. Quickly throwing the car in park and pulling the keys from the ignition Damon leisurely stepped out of his car and walked over to where Elena was now, swiftly typing a text message to someone. He leaned against the car and took a moment to just look at her. She was breath taking, even when she had just rolled out of bed and had zero time to tend to her appearance Elena Gilbert was still the most beautiful girl he had ever seen.

Sure, he had many girls who were not lacking in the looks-department throw themselves at him, and he was always more than happy to comply, but all any of those other girls were to him was sex. Nothing more. Not when he had Elena to compare them to. She was his best friend, she saw him as more than just a face but as the entire shitty person he was and still stuck around, Elena was the one who could see past every defense he put up, well all but one of them. And thank God for that. Pulling himself from his thoughts, he felt a small smile tug at his lips when she glanced up at him through her eyelashes.

"What?" Elena asked, hitting the send button on her phone before slipping it in her pocket.

The small grin turned into a smirk as Damon pushed himself from the hood of the car and took a few steps closer to small brunette, crossing his arms before he spoke, "Well Elena, I was just wondering if we could leave now, or if you wanted to stand here and text some more." He said slowly as if he were speaking to a small child.

"Yeah, 'Lena it's already your fault we are running late in the first place." Jeremy's teasing voice came from the other end of the car where he and Stefan had emerged from the back seat at some point.

"I was texting Caroline about Homecoming, she's in charge this year and I was just letting her know that Damon and I would help her out." Elena said quickly before turning to walk towards the school with the other students who were still filtering in.

"Wait hold on!" Damon exclaimed catching Elena's arm. "You actually signed me up for homecoming committee?" He asked raising his eyebrows, praying that he hadn't actually heard her correctly.

"Oh come on Damon please." Elena pleaded sweetly batting her eyes and pulling her best 'puppy dog' face.

"Oh, no. Defiantly not." Damon stated firmly, letting go of her arm and crossed his own. "And you should know that those eyes have no effect on me." _Liar,_ he thought, attempting to look as convincing as possible.

"Damon, pleaseeee." Elena whined, looking a little deflated.

That did it; he didn't want her to be upset, especially if it was because of him. Running a hand through his hair he let out a defeated groan. Damn this girl. "Okay fine. But I'm only there to help do the heavy lifting. I'm not agreeing to any of the planning shit."

A large smile broke out on Elena face, as she threw her arms around Damon neck and hugged him tightly, "Thank you!"

"Yeah, yeah. You owe me one for this Gilbert." Damon sighed, wrapping his arm around her back and returned the hug. It was brief and she pulled away far too soon.

"Of course." Elena laughed lightly, rolling her eyes as she stepped back. "Can't you ever just do someone a favor without having them 'owe you'? She asked, grabbing her bag from the passenger seat.

"Nope!" Damon declared, smirking and repositioning himself on the hood of the car.

"Whatever, I'll see you later!" Elena waved before hurrying to make it into the building before the final bell rang.

"Damon, seriously, Homecoming Committee?" Stefan laughed slapping his brother lightly on the back, "You don't even go to the dance!" Stefan said with amusement.

"Shut up Stefan!" Damon snapped, roughly standing up as he tore away from his brother's hand, and pulled his leather jacket on before locking the car.

Shaking his head slightly, Stefan turned to Jeremy, "Sorry man, but your sister is pretty oblivious to it all, I mean how can she still, honestly have no clue about this?" Stefan said tilting his head towards Damon.

"No, idea I mean even Elijah has started to realize it." Jeremy replied with a shrug.

"Fuck off." Damon murmured, sulking as he turned towards the building and started walking, his mood had officially been ruined for the day. He knew that they were only giving him shit, but it didn't mean it pissed him off any less. Elijah didn't even deserve Elena; no one would ever deserve her as far as he was concerned. Granted out all the Mikaelson siblings, Elijah was the most tolerable but he was still a tool and an ass.

Dragging his feet through the halls that had been deserted about ten minutes ago, he stopped when he was in front of his locker, unlocking it easily and grabbed his first period books. He pushed the locker door with a little more force than was necessary and it slammed shut a loud clap.

* * *

Class was already fifteen minutes under way when Damon opened the door and walked in, ignoring his teachers glare as he took a seat in the back end of the classroom.

"Salvatore, why are you late?" Mr. Tanner said in a not so questing tone, holding his gaze on Damon, who just shrugged.

"Car problems" Damon stated simply, it was always the excuse he used when he was late to his first class.

"Right, well Mr. Salvatore, you better have that car of yours checked soon, hmm"

"Yes sir!" Damon quipped sarcastically, slouching in his chair.

Mr. Tanner said something, probably an insult under his breath before turning back to the board and picked up where he was in the lesson.

Not long after he sat down, Damon felt a tap on his shoulder, "What crawled up your ass?"

"Great to see you too, Caroline." He said flatly without turning around.

"Fine, don't talk to me!" She huffed falling back into her seat.

"Hey, have you seen Elena yet today" The blonde asked, leaning forward less than five minutes later.

"Not since I dropped her and our brothers off." He replied, sounding bored. "Why?" He asked glancing back at her.

Shrugging Caroline sat back before replying, "Elijah was looking for her earlier…"

'_Of course he was' _Damon thought bitterly "Well we were running a bit late, I'm sure the two love birds are catching up as we speak" He whispered harshly.

"Oh my God, Damon!" Caroline exclaimed quietly, throwing her hands out slightly, just to be dramatic. "Why don't you just tell her already?"

Rolling his eyes Damon prepared to give the response he always gave when people accused him of these sorts of things. "Tell who what exactly?" He asked, fringing cluelessness.

Pulling her eye brows together Caroline opened her mouth to say something but Mr. Tanner beat her to it.

"Miss. Forbs, Mr. Salvatore, may I help you with something?" The man asked sternly.

"Nope, I was just telling Blondie here" Damon pointed his thumb toward, Caroline. "To be quiet" He turned around smirking, and brought his pointer finger to his lips, "Shhh."

"Jackass." She murmured through her teeth, as Mr. Tanner glared at them, more than likely debating with himself to give a lecture about talking during his class or just ignoring them. He seemed to have chosen the latter, as he cleared his throat and continued teaching about some new equation set up n the board. Having Physics first hour sucked.

"Why don't you just tell Elena you love her" Caroline whispered just loud enough for Damon to make out the words.

His whole body tensed, there were a million reasons why he hadn't and probably won't ever tell her about his feelings, but for now he just denied them to everyone who brought them up. It was hard enough admitting it to himself.

"I don't _love _anyone Barbie." Damon laughed humorlessly, shaking his head a bit as if the notion was crazy.

She looked as though she had more to say but the dismissive bell rang and Damon bolted. Thank god, he thought walking swiftly towards his locker.

* * *

It took him less than a minute to reach his destination, he rummaged through to large metal box that was an excuse for a locker and was about to leave for his next class when he heard soft voices arguing from around the corner, rolling his eyes as he started stepping way, there was always some sort of drama going on here. Before he gt too far however, he heard a familiar voice.

"Stop it, you're being ridiculous!" The voice hissed. _Elena? _He cautiously stepped around the corner, seeking the source of the voices. Then he saw them.

His blood boiled at the sight, Elena looked pissed and Elijah didn't look much happier as he held a tight grip on her upper arm.

"What the hell!" Damon announced his presents loudly, his gaze locked angrily on Elijah.

* * *

**a/n: So what do ya think?:) I know, its short and I apologize but like I said I had computer problems and everything and I was in a rush to get this out since I wont be able to update for a while after this, I hope you really liked it though! Please review if you can spare the time they seriously make my day, thanks so much for reading!**

**~Syd**


	4. Chapter 3

**a/n: Wow! Has it really been almost two months since I updated?! *hangs head in shame* I'm sorry I took so long, life and a lack of muse gets in the way u.u**

**Well anyway here's a shiny new one for you guys, I hope you like it! It's a bit longer than the last one so that's good right?:) **

**Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed/followed/favorited it really means the world that you guys like my story enough for that.**

**Okay enjoy the chapter! (oh also, i finished the entire thing tonight, so I'm sorry for any mistakes)**

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Elijah dropped Elena's arm quickly, as if it had burned him, a shocked expression slowly filtered across his face as he stared at Damon before turning back to Elena. He ran a hand through his neat brown hair and murmured something that sounded like, 'sorry' and 'talk to you later' as he stroked the arm that he'd previously been grasping. A moment later he was gone down the hall leaving Damon and Elena alone, with the exception of a few other students.

Elena watched Elijah leave until he disappeared into the crown. When she turned around to face Damon she smiled brightly as if nothing had happened, "Hey Damon, what's up?" She asked casually, picking her messenger bag up from where it had been laying on the floor. Walking towards him she continued to act as if it were just a normal day of the week, "Ready for class?"

"Seriously?" Damon said as they started to walk to their next class, she looked up at him, pretending to be confused. Damon rolled his eyes, determined to get some answers, "Are you seriously just going to pretend that nothing happened? Elena, what was going on back there?" He asked, trying hard to keep from sounding annoyed.

"Nothing happened, Damon, just a little disagreement." She said, hoping she sounded convincing enough for Damon to drop it. No such luck.

"Right, because when I have _small _disagreements with my friends I always have a death grip on their arm." He scoffed, not bothering to keep his annoyance at bay this time.

"Damon it wasn't a death grip, he barley even touched me." She said defending Elijah, he had just lost his temper a bit, and he really hadn't hurt her that badly at all; it probably wouldn't even leave a mark.

"Sure." Damon dead panned, "Look Elena, I know there's more that you're not telling me so don't think I'm going to just forget about it." He told her, leaving little room for discussion.

But of course Elena had to try, "Damon, it was seriously nothing!" Elena insisted as they reached the classroom door.

"Bullshit" Damon said in a low voice as he held the door open for them, following Elena into the room. They spotted Bonnie and Tyler in a corner of the room and walked over to talk to them, a few minutes later the bell rang, signaling that classes were starting. Mr. Saltzman stood up, and greeted the class before delving into a lecture about World War One.

About ten minutes into class Elena's phone buzzed. Sliding it out of her pocket to see who it was from, she rolled her eyes, when she saw Elijah's name blinking on her screen. Opening the message anyway all annoyance left her body as she skimmed the text.

'_I'm sorry, you were right. I was over reacting. Any chance I can redeem myself tonight? I hate the thought of you going to sleep upset with me.'_

Elena couldn't help the small grin on her lips as she looked at Elijah's message. They had been dating since the end of sophomore year; and continued to see each other throughout the summer and into this year she was really happy with him, other than a few small fights here and there things were great.

'_Cheesy. But sure, I'd like that.'_

She responded, shutting the phone right as Mr. Saltzman called on her to answer a question, "Uh, sorry could you repeat that?" Elena asked politely.

"Sure, what country was forced to sign treaty of Versailles after the war?" The teacher asked.

"Uh, Germany?" Elena guessed, hoping she had remembered correctly.

"Correct, but next time let's keep our phones away until after class." He said sternly.

"Yeah, sorry," Elena said quietly, writing down a few notes that were projected to on the board.

Damon had his eyes on Elena more times than he would like to admit during class, but today he couldn't help it, he was curious to what was really going on with her and Elijah; and as selfish as it was he couldn't hope they were hitting a rough patch with this. He wanted Elena to be happy; he truly did, just not with some guy who didn't deserve her, he wanted her to be happy with- His eyes flicked over to her again and he shook his head before the thought could complete itself _'don't kid yourself Salvatore.'_

Thirty minutes later the bell rang and kids started to leave the room. Damon decided to go over and talk to his friends for a bit, well he intended to ask Elena to hang out tonight, hoping he could force something more about the incident out of her. Tyler had already left, but Bonnie and Elena were still chatting when he walked over to them, leaning casually against a nearby desk he cleared his throat, waiting to be acknowledged. When they both looked over Bonnie rolled her eyes, but offered a polite 'hey' to which Damon just smirked.

"So what are you doing tonight? Because I can't remember the last time we hung out." He asked, turning his attention to Elena.

His mood dropped slightly when she exchanged a look with Bonnie, "Well, I'd love to but uh, Elijah was going to take me somewhere tonight." She told him.

"Seriously, weren't you two fighting like, an hour ago?!" Damon said harshly.

"Well yeah but he felt bad so…"

"Right" Damon scoffed, pushing off the desk.

"Damon why does it matter to you if she hangs out with her boyfriend tonight," Bonnie asked, defending Elena.

"I doesn't," and with that he grabbed his books and walked out the door.

A few minutes later Bonnie and Elena gathered their things and also walked out the door. "So what's wrong with Damon today?" Bonnie asked.

Deciding not to tell her about the whole scene Damon had walked in on, Elena just shook her head, "I have no idea he was fine when I talked to him this morning."

Bonnie shrugged indifferently, after knowing the guy for the better part of nine years, you get used to his moodiness. "So, you and Elijah are still good, I mean aside from the little argument?" Bonnie asked changing the subject.

"Yeah, yeah we are" Elena said smiling at the thought of him, "I'm really happy with him Bon."

* * *

School had ended quickly enough; Damon was busy taking books out of his locker and stuffing them into his backpack, trying to ignore Elena and Elijah who were talking and smiling at the end of the hall by her locker, he was failing miserably at it though and when Elena touched Elijah's arm, laughing at something he'd said Damon felt the familiar ping of jealousy nip at his gut.

"Damon!" Someone called him, drawing his attention away from the couple down the hall, however when he saw who it was he had to stifle a groan. Andie Star was strolling up to him with a large amount of confidence, grinning flirtatiously at him; he had slept with her once last summer. At the time it seemed like a good idea, she'd been flirting with him all and he'd had a little too much to drink so he went for it, but she seemed unable to comprehend what a one night stand was because he couldn't get her to leave him alone. It wasn't that she wasn't hot, because she was. Her strawberry blond hair was always styled to perfection, she had an amazing body, which he knew from experience, and she had quite an impressive rack. Her wardrobe choice wasn't too conservative either; Andie wasn't shy about showing off her physical features at all. She was just too obvious with things for Damon's taste, "Hey Andie," he greeted leaning against his locker.

"So there's this party, at Tyler's Friday and-" Andie began, but Damon cut her off.

"-Yeah, I know, I'm his friend he told me about it." He said shortly.

"Oh, so you'll be there then? Well that's great, we can go together, huh?" Andie suggested in a way that could be mistaken for seduction, as she leaned into him.

"Look Andie, I was just going to kind of show up, but yes I'll be there at some point," Damon explained, Andie was about to say something but her face fell to a scowl when something caught her eye over Damon's shoulder.

Turning around to see what Andie was looking at he sighed in relief when he saw Elena standing behind him.

"Ready to go, where are Stef and Jer?" He asked looking for their younger siblings.

"Well, actually, I'm catching a ride with Bonnie and Caroline today so you don't need to worry about taking me home. But as for Stefan and Jeremy I have no clue, sorry." Elena replied, but when she noticed Andie still glaring at her over his shoulder she decided to help her friend out, Andie wasn't exactly their favorite person anyway, "Oh, hey Damon I just remembered, I needed to give you that thing, for uh, homecoming committee. It's in my locker come on." She said, hoping he would get the message.

Damon gave her a confused look for a moment but when she raised her eyebrows he got it, _god, she was amazing,_ "Ohh yeah, I remember you saying something about that." He said playing along, "Sorry Andie I should go, see you later."

Andie huffed in annoyance before marching away. When she was gone, Damon turned to Elena and gave her a big bear hug, "Thanks for saving me Lena," he said while squeezing her tighter. "Ah, Damon can't breathe" Elena wheezed out, struggling against him.

"Ass," she smirked slapping him lightly on the chest when he finally released her, "And you're welcome."

"Oh, come on Elena, you love my hugs." Damon grinned at her.

"Sure just keep telling yourself that" Elena laughed, shaking her head.

"Maybe I will," He drawled, leaning slightly closer to her.

"Could you two maybe flirt somewhere else?" Jeremy asked loudly as he and Stefan appeared in front of them.

"We weren't flirting Jer," Elena said with an eye roll, "anyway I should probably go, see you guys later" Elena said, giving a small wave before heading out the main doors.

"Where is she off to?" Stefan asked.

"Uh, she said something about catching a ride with Bonnie and Caroline." Damon answered absent mindedly.

"Ohh, so she's hanging with Caroline then?" Stefan grinned rubbing his hands together, "I wonder if they have room for two more, eh Jer? I'm Sure Bonnie wouldn't mind either." He winked at his friend who just laughed.

"Dream on Lover boys," Damon said, slapping them both on the shoulder, "Caroline and Bonnie are way too hot for the two of you," he teased.

"Yeah, well I could say the same thing about Elena and you," Stefan shoot back.

"Well you see, little brother, the thing about that is..Elena and I are both hot," He finished with a smirk and walked off to his car.

* * *

"Elena! Tell us why Elijah wants to take you out for an 'I'm sorry I was an ass' date!" Caroline whined flopping down on the bed next to her and Bonnie.

"Okay fine, it's just not that big of a deal!" Elena said, throwing her hands up in the air, "I don't know why you two insist on knowing, but if you must know. Elijah sort of got upset about Damon driving me to school all the time and how much we talk or text, things got a little heated, I told him he was being ridiculous, because he knows Damon and I are just friends, then he grabbed my arm, but not aggressively or anything, he just had a grip on me is all" Elena explained with a shrug, "So, were hanging out tonight," Elena explained as she flicked an invisible piece of lint from her shirt.

Bonnie and Caroline looked at Elena with raised brows, both of them sporting somewhat judging looks crossed with a little worry.

"What?! You guys couples fight all the time, it's no big deal. First Damon, now you two," Elena sighed growing increasingly frustrated.

"Well, sorry but Lena, he did grab you, even if he didn't hurt you; it is a tincey bit alarming." Bonnie said softly

"Okay listen, he feels bad, if he didn't we wouldn't be going out tonight, its fine really, we'll talk it out." Elena said, running a hand through her long hair which she had let down during the day so it now cascaded down past her shoulders.

"Look, I'm sorry I got upset, but I should go Elijah said he wanted to meet around six, and uh he can't really pick me up, something at work came up and he said he wouldn't be able to pick me up? We are just going to the grill, so it won't take long." Elena gave a smile and pulled her best puppy dog eyes, "please," she asked looking between Caroline and Bonnie.

"Oh, fine! But only because we like you." Caroline chuckled under her breath as Elena gave her a tight hug and said her thanks.

Elijah would normally pick her up, he was actually planning on it, but she got a text from him about a half hour ago telling her that he'd be kept late at work and probably wouldn't have time to pick her up. Elena understood, she didn't have a problem with driving herself placed every once in a while, it's just this time she didn't have a car to drive with.

* * *

About ten minutes later the three girls pulled in front of the grill and Elena hopped out, "Thanks again guys! I'll see you tomorrow!" Elena said before walking into the restaurant, searching for Elijah.

"She spotted him at a nearby booth, and walked over to join him.

"Hey, you look lovely as always" He greeted her, smiling broadly as she sat down.

"Thanks, you don't look half bad for just getting off work." Elena complemented him, even though he looked beyond tired.

"Thanks for lying to help my self esteem," he joked.

"Look Elena, I just wanted to really, really apologize for how I acted this morning, you're right, I was overreacting to things between you and Damon. I should believe that you see nothing more than your relationship with him than friendship, and I should have trusted you more. But instead I acted like a complete jealous idiot, and I'm really truly sorry Elena." He said honestly, reaching across the table to hold her hands, "Forgive me?"

Elena bit the inside of her cheek to keep herself from telling Elijah, for the hundredth time, that Damon also saw her as nothing more than a friend. But she didn't want to push things so instead, she squeezed his hands and said, "Of course," adding a reassuring smile.

The rest of dinner went by rather well and the two spent the whole time joking around and talking about plans for the weekend.

Once eight thirty rolled around Elijah let out a loud yawn.

"Work really took it out of you huh?" Elena asked, growing concerned.

"Yeah," Elijah nodded. "This entire week has just kicked my ass, thank god tomorrow is Friday."

"Yeah, well how about we head home, you look like you could use some rest."

"Gee, you sure know how to make a guy feel nice about himself babe, but an early night doesn't sound like the worst thing in the world." Elijah said, throwing a few bills on the table and stood up.

"Oh, come on you know I'm just looking out for you" Elena said, snuggling closer to him as he put an arm around her.

It only took a few minutes to get Elena dropped off at home. "Thanks for tonight Elijah; I had a really nice night." Elena said softly, pecking him lightly on the lips.

"Yeah, so did I. Sleep tight Elena, I'll see you tomorrow."

When Elena climbed out of the car she noticed Damon's blue Camaro was still parked in her driveway.

'Well that's weird,' she thought as she unlocked the front door.

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**a/n: So there you have it (I know icky Elijah and Elena stuff) I'll try to keep it all to a minimum but you have to remember that Elena does love Elijah right now. So what did you think? Leave a review if you have time! They make my day better:D**

**~Syd**


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